World Tiramisu Day: 20-Min Recipe

March 21 is World Tiramisu Day.
It's the day to honour that extraordinarily light, melt-in-your-mouth, boozy dessert that originated in northern Italy (some say the region of Veneto, some say further east in Friuli-Venezia Giulia).
We present an eggless Tiramisu recipe, from our archives, by food blogger Vishaka Rautela. It takes about 20 minutes to make not counting chiling time.

Ingredients

• 1 cup mascarpone cheese
• ¼ cup castor sugar (a kind of finer sugar manufactured by top baking brands)
• 1 cup whipped cream, soft peaks
• 1 tsp powdered gelatine (please see Tips, in the last slide, for substitutes)
• 2 tbsp water

Ingredients, continued

• 2-3 tbsp Kahlua coffee liqueur
• 1 cup chocolate cake crumbs (easiest to use store-bought sliced chocolate cake, crumbled or ground in a blender)
• Cocoa powder, for dusting
• ½ cup black coffee, made with 1 tbsp instant coffee mixed with 120 ml hot water, cooled
• 5-6 individual serving bowls or cups or a large dessert serving bowl

Method

• In a mixing bowl, add the mascarpone, castor sugar, coffee liqueur and mix well.
  Keep aside.

Method, continued

• In a small saucepan, add the gelatine to 2 tbsp water and let stand for a couple of minutes, before gently heating to dissolve the gelatine.
  Take off heat and cool to room temperature.
• Fold the gelatine and the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture, very gently to avoid collapsing the air from the whipped cream.
  Refrigerate while you prep the base.

Method, continued

• Evenly distribute half of the cake crumbs, either among the serving bowls or at the bottom of the serving bowl, depending on what you are using, and press very lightly to level.
  Slowly dab the crumb layer with the black coffee mixture to make a base -- use a pastry brush or pour gently with a spoon.

Method, continued

• Spoon half the mascarpone mixture onto the prepared base and spread evenly.
  Repeat with another layer of cake crumbs, then black coffee and then the mascarpone mixture.
• Seal with cling film and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.
• Before serving, discard the cling wrap, and dust the top with cocoa powder.

Tips
Instead of Kahlua, consider using Baileys Irish Cream, Tia Maria or any other coffee liqueur. Else add 2 tsp instant coffee mixed with a little warm water to dissolve it.
Vishaka prefers Baileys.
Vegetarians can use a gelatine substitute like agar-agar. Each gm or tsp of gelatine can be substituted for an equivalent amount of agar agar -- substitution is in a 1:1 ratio.